> I’d be curious to see some examples

Victorian-era serialised fiction [1]. The Federalist Papers. Everything on clay tablets. Technologically speaking, you don't get a lot of large volumes until the advent of the printing press and mass literacy [2].

> referenced example is principia mathematica

Published in the 20th century.

[1] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Serial_(literature)

[2] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/History_of_books#The_printing_...